Fashion

Sony Ericsson Elm

“
One of the few eco friendly phones on the market, it is made with recycled plastics and has a power saving charger. It has a sleek design and plenty of features and apps. Battery life is also a plus. „

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

A decent phone with buttons!

This phone is described as an eco friendly phone, as it is made from recycled materials. This isn't the primary reason I bought the phone, however if it is possible for phones to be more environmentally friendly then I'm all for it.

I chose this phone as despite the craze for iphones, blackberrys and androids, I was merely looking for a standard phone with pretty basic requirements and that had buttons. There seems to be a huge decline in phones that provide buttons and a large range of touchscreen phones available which isn't what I was after.The cost of the phone at the time I bought it was over £100, however it is available online for a lower price.

The design of this phone is quite simplistic and it looks quite smart, it's pretty slim in size and lightweight. I feel the size of the phone is just right, it's easy to handle and fits in my pocket easily.

Features of this phone include a 5 mega pixel camera, for which there is a camera shortcut button on the outer of the phone, wi-fi, bluetooth, gps, radio. There is easy access to the internet and social networking sides.

The phone comes with a set of headphones, however the quality of these aren't great. Unfortunately, a downside of this phone is that there isn't a socket for standard headphones. This isn't such an issue for me as I don't use the phone as an mp3, however it would be an added feature.

Another downside of this phone is that there isn't a multimedia cable provided to enable you to transfer files/photos to the pc. There is a hd slot so files could be transferred this way, however I'd much prefer to use a cable.

Overall I have had this phone for over a year now, which is a good length of time for me as I'm really bad with phones. I have dropped this phone numerous times and it still works which is great. If you're looking for a standard phone with a keypad then this phone is fairly decent with only a few flaws.

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

Great if your a text person and don't make many calls

I originally bought this phone as I was looking for a phone which had WIFI but still used the old Sony Ericsson software, I had limited choice when it came to finding this specification but the ELM ticked all the boxes and at a budget price!

The phone is modeled as a "ECO FRIENDLY" phone, which seemed rather off putting at first, but I quickly realized that this wasn't going to cause any issues in usage.

Shape ~~~~~

The shape of the phone is rather small, rectangular like a lot of the older models but much thinner and lighter! it also has a curved back (according to the manual this was designed to prevent the phone from slipping out of your hand. however this didn't work for me, even with rough hands, so a slight design fault in my opinion.

Calls ~~~~~ Despite running on the 3G networks I was somewhat disappointed with this phone when it came to using it to make calls, granted I don't make a lot of calls but when I did they were awful.. the signal just didn't seem strong enough and it was always very distorted, the strange thing is that the other people could always hear me fine!, the plus side of this phone is that it features something called noise shield! this is amazing! I could be in the pub with loud noises all around, but no noises would ever be heard by the other person! (usually the Mrs), the speaker phone works quite well too, Overall I wouldn't recommend it for calling,

Texts ~~~~~ Texting using this phone is a simple as 123, literally, with it being a standard 1-9 *0# keyboard the texts use the normal press 666 for the letter O ect, this makes it very simple for people who have used this type of phone before to quickly pick it up, the Sony Erickson text application is very basic but similar to older models of Sony, The phone also holds the messages in a conversation view which is very useful and tidy!

System ~~~~~~ The phone is run on Sony Ericsson branded software, using much of the same menus and features of the previous models, including features such as track ID and the same menu layouts. There is other options on this phone which include settings for the WIFI and many of the phones basic features, Screen, tones ect.

Web ~~~ Web browsing on this phone is brilliant, its quick and easy with no fuss, even faster with the WIFI switched on and set up! web pages are displayed clearly with no need for an external application like many other phones.

Media ~~~~~ The music and video player on this phone is very basic and doesn't leave much in the room of customization, the best thing to do if you require this phone for "MP3" player purposes is to download a .JAR application, The phone also has the ability to play online music videos via a YouTube application. The phone also features a FM radio however you can only use this if you have the headphones plugged in, however when plugged in there is an option for a loudspeaker.

Feature ~~~~~~~ Besides being a "ECO" phone it also has features such as the WIFI which has an impressive range for a mobile device, and a 5MP camera with a light (not really bright enough to be called a flash) the picture quality is quite good though, but the Video quality on this phone is impressive, although it only records in VGA size the detail is amazing, its just a shame that the videos are recorded in the .3GP format. The phone also has GPS which comes in useful, not so much for navigation but more for "training" purposes, the phone is capable of telling you how fast your moving which I love as I ride to work in a morning, know how far I travel and how fast and what my route looks like! it also features a Pedometer to track the number of steps you do in a day, this is usually quite accurate.

Screen ~~~~~~ The screen on this phone is smaller than it first looks due to the silver border around it, but this soon gets dismissed when you see how vibrant it is and start using the phone. one of the features of the screen is a little sensor at the top that brightens the screen during the day and dims it at night but lights the keyboard, I thought this was amazing and obviously in line with the ECO friendly ness of the phone, I wish other phones had this feature as well!

Keyboard ~~~~~~~~ as mentioned the keyboard is a standard 1-9 keyboard but the buttons are well layed out and I have never missed a button, its really easy to text without looking as well which is handy when the boss-man is about! although it does have a tendency to "click" when you press buttons, not too loud but enough to hear you type.

Battery ~~~~~~~ The battery on this phone is very good, I believe this is most likely down to the ECO part of the phone, there is never any issues with it getting to hot or anything like that, the charger is the old style Sony Ericsson charger with the big pins.

Add-ons ~~~~~~ as far as add-ons go this phone works like most other Sony Ericsson using the .jar applications, the phone doesn't have any problems running a large range of the different apps out there, there is also customizable themes available to download or even make yourself using software included on the CD. The phone also is capable of storing up to 280MB of data internally! that is huge, and has capabilities to read up to 8GB Micro SD cards.

Accessories ~~~~~~~~~~~ The accessories included with this phone is a ECO carry case, the charger and some tacky headphones that use the Large pin port, I would recommend getting some headphones from the old W model phones.

Bad points ~~~~~~~~~~ Other than the phones main purpose to call people it is actually not a bad little phone. there is no other major issues the point out

SUMMARY ~~~~~~~ It has many features and is easy to use. Overall I'm really glad I bought this phone and would recommend it to anyone who texts often but calls little. Plus it's eco friendly which is good.

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

great phone wish I never had to give it back!!

When I first signed up to a contract with Orange saying i'd keep the phone for two years I thought to myself I must be insane i'll get bored within a week...however it lasted a whole two years and it barley ever left my hand!Such an easy to use phone, nothing complex about it, its great for texting and conversation mode, amazing camera for a small phone like this one! Although it wasn't the new thing that everyone was crazy about it suited me I adapted to it easily. Considering i'm pretty clumsy and drop phones a lot, this one managed to hold out, after two years it only ended up with a couple of dents a rock hard phone.I can't think of many bad things about the phone, its practical, light weight, pretty unique looking and a phone I would tell people about!Sony Ericsson's do not have a great track record the rest of my family have all had one and within months they have broken but this one out did them all, suffering minor bruises but never needing any repairs!If you are a bit like me and love your phone always have it by your side its for you! it's always speedy when I use it and easy to work and access. Perfect phone for someone clumsy or someone who isn't bothered about wasting fortunes on smart phones that last half the duration as this style of phone will do!Recommend it to anyone!!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Excellent, simple-to-use, low-key - ideal for the non-conformist

In the age of iPhone 4s, Blackberrys, Xperias and HTCs, the simple old style phone is often overlooked. Whilst the Sony Ericsson J10i (or Elm) lacks an impressive exterior, it is actually a pretty good phone. It has 3G capability, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 5MP camera, a memory card slot and many other features (such as a pedometer).

Elm is focused on being environmentally friendly, which means that it comes with very little packaging, the aforementioned pedometer (which also measures how much carbon you've saved) and a little message which pops up every time you unplug the phone from its charger reminding you to unplug the charger.

Whilst not having the processing speed, touch-screen or large database of compatible applications found with the mainstream mobiles, Elm is certainly competitive and good value for money (I believe it's £100 PAYG on Orange). Not locked to any network, the phone is very slick and is graphically impressive.

The only real problem I've had with the Elm is the speed. It seems to take a very long time to do anything or to respond. It takes a good few minutes to fully load up. Now it is possible that this is caused by the Samsung 4GB memory card I use, because my friend who has the same phone has no problems with his loading speed at all. Samsung have never really produced good products, so perhaps it is that which is slowing it down. Nevertheless, I would grant this piece of technology 4 stars and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a simple phone.

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

Good reliable phone

I spent ages looking online looking at phone reviews when i spotted this phone, which has a nice silver backing and black keys at the front.The Sony Ericsson phone is not a touch screen in which appeals to me as i would find it hard to text and be scared of cracking the screen, its just a nice basic user - friendly phone.I went for This phone as i like listening to music and i know Sony Ericsson has good battery life and you can add a micro SD card so then you can add more music..Plus this phone has a 5 mega pixel camera which it takes good quality pictures and you can easily transfer the file to the computer with a the usb cable that come with it.

I have had this phone for a nearly a year now the only bad thing i would say about it is that it is hard to get the back off to get to the battery of sim card.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

an attractive and simple to use phone

On first look the phone has a modern and sleek design, with shiny black front and metallic back. The buttons are of an adequate size and easy to use. The phone itself is also easy to use, with a simple, standard layout which can be changed according to preference. There are several options for things like background picture, startup screen etc. and there are a number of ringtones. The camera produces OK quality pictures and is simple to activate with a button on the side of the phone. It can then be held like a standard camera when taking pictures. I find the 'torch' otion on the phone useful. The phone has some comprehensive features, for example the alarm function allows you to set a number of alarms for different times and days. The phone holds charge well, although I have had to replace the charger which was not always charging the phone.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

an easy to use, simple but stylish phone.

Sony Ericsson Elm

---------- Why I Chose This Phone And General Info ----------After having a Blackberry for a year which all though I could do a lot on it, I just wanted a simple phone that was easy to use. I didn't want it to be very expensive like an iphone, I didn't want it to be touch screen or have a QWERTY key pad, I didn't want it to be too big and I wanted it to have a good camera as I don't actually own a camera, that's when Sony Ericsson Elm came into the picture! I got Sony Ericsson Elm from Amazon for around £120. For me I find that a reasonable price for the standards of this phone. The Sony Ericsson Elm, is an 'eco friendly' phone. It is made out of recycled materials and it comes with little packaging, which makes it all the more better for the environment. Today I am going to give my opinions on this phone, and I hope you will find it useful!

---------- Phone Design ----------I find the Sony Ericsson Elm is an attractive phone, it is really just a typical candy bar phone. It is quite thin, and the actual back of the phone has a slight curve which makes it look all the more stylish! I think the curve of the phone is designed to fit into your hand well, and it does. The screen is quite big, but obviously not as big as touch screen phones, but I didn't want a big phone anyway. I also really like the layout of the buttons on the phone. It has the 1,2,3,4,5 etc buttons. Which you use for dialling and texting with. And at the top of the keypad in the middle there is a square type button with another button in the middle of that. The square button has the up, down, right and left which you press to navigate yourself around the phone and the button in the middle is used to select things. There is also buttons on the right and left, which are used as a back button, and other uses. There is also the red and green phone buttons which are used for answering and declining phone calls. And then there is just two more buttons underneath that, which also have different uses. It all sounds really confusing, but when you see the phone and use it, you know that it really isn't. There is also a button on the side of the phone that loads up the camera, and another button for the volume. Right at the top of the phone it says 'Sony Ericsson' and on the back of the phone there is the camera, and the Sony Ericsson logo and again the writing saying Sony Ericsson. The front of the phone is black and most of the back of the phone is silver. The phone also comes in light pink and silver. I really like the look of this phone, it is a perfect size I find, as it fits in all my pockets easily, it is nice and thin unlike some bulky phones you get, it is also nice and lightweight. It is a very simple phone, yet it can still look stylish.

---------- What Do You Get With The Phone ----------So when I ordered my phone from Amazon, it came in a nice small square box, and this was what was inside it...- The Phone (of course)- The Charger- Sony Ericsson headphones- Some information leaflets

I was actually quite annoyed because when I ordered it, I thought it would have the cable attaching from the computer to the phone, but it did not include that, so I had to buy it separately.

---------- Layout Of The Phone ----------Once you turn on the phone the Sony Ericsson symbol comes up, and then the green heart symbol comes up as well. And then the phone loads until you see the background. You can then get onto the menu, where you will see lots of different symbols for everything that is on your phone. You have Messaging, Internet, Contacts, Media, Camera, Organiser, Settings, Calls, Location Services, Play Now, Entertainment and Calendar. I like the layout of the menu, you can navigate yourself around the phone quickly and easily and find exactly what you want. There are different themes that you get with your phone. There is 'greenheart' - which is a green and white theme. 'flow' - which is a blue theme. 'harp' which is a black and gold theme. And 'melody' which is a black and purple theme. So you can set up whichever theme you want to suit you, I find that the melody and harp themes are more manly themes. And the greenheart and flow themes are more girly themes. My favourite is the Greenheart theme. You can also do the basic things that most mobiles let you do, such as taking a photo and setting it as your background. The actual homepage of the phone has a nice layout. If you set up the lock on your phone, you just click the * then the top right hand button to unlock your phone and then you will see the homepage. A major let down of this phone is that there is not an option for a password when unlocking this phone. So basically you can't set up a password so that when you want to unlock it you just put in the password and it unlocks. Unfortunately anyone can just unlock your phone. However you can get a password set up for when the phone first turns on, but I hardly ever turn my phone off, so it isn't very useful to me. Anyway back to the layout of the homepage. On the homepage it has most things you would want, such as the date and the time. At the top of the phone it also shows you how much battery life you have left, if your phone is in on silent or vibrate etc, whether your wifi is turned on, and how much signal you have. It's a nice simple homepage that everyone would understand. Also there is a shortcut feature where you press for example the right side of the square button, and it will take you to the media section of the phone, you can actually customise these so you can shortcut to any part of the phone you want. I find this phone extremely easy to navigate around. As soon as I got this phone it didn't take me long to work out how to use it.

---------- Features Of The Phone ----------Messaging - When texting on this phone you have 2 options, whether you want predictive text, or standard text. I chose predictive. It is very easy to text on the phone. The buttons are soft so you can press down on them easily without having to apply lots of pressure. I can't text really fast on this phone like on a QWERTY keypad, but it doesn't take me very long, and it is easy to use. Also when your texting on this phone there is word suggestion, so basically the phone guesses from your previous texts what the next word will be in your sentence, and if its right you can just click the space button and the word will appear, so it saves you writing it out. You can also add words to your 'dictionary' so that when you type them in your phone will recognise the word. I have never had a problem trying to text on this phone. You can also add things to your texts such as pictures, videos, animations and sounds. You can also set up emails on this phone which I have done. It's very useful to get all my emails sent to my phone, as when I am not at home I can just quickly look at them, and reply if I want. One thing which I love about this phone is the layout of how you can view text conversations between you and someone else. It comes up in a conversation style where you can scroll down and see the text you sent, then the other persons reply, then your reply, then their reply etc. It saves you from going from inbox to outbox!

Camera and Video - The phones camera is 5 mega pixels, which I find is a good enough quality for me. To take a picture you just point, and then hold down the middle button or side camera button. You have to hold the camera in place for a few seconds while it focus's the picture and then saves. So it doesn't take pictures that quickly. If your taking a picture and it's dark and have the settings on flash - auto, then the flash will automatically come up so you can take pictures in the dark. The camera has many settings such as smile detection, flash, self-timer, and affects such as black and white. You can also zoom in and out using the volume buttons at the side of the phone. The video camera is good too. It also has many settings such as if you want the flash light on or off, self-timer and effects. You can also pause in the middle of your recording and then play again without having to stop it completely. Both the video camera and camera have good settings, and have quite a good high quality picture.

Internet - The internet is fairly good. If you have wifi on then it loads quite fast. You can browse in either portrait or landscape as when you move the phone from portrait to landscape then the screen moves with it. You can do most things on the internet easily. The Sony Ericsson elm has a few apps on it such as Facebook, Youtube and Google Maps. I don't actually like the Facebook app on this phone, it has this feature that whenever you go on it then close it down people's status's pop up on your home screen, it was a good idea that most people probably like, but I don't want to see people's status's 24 hours a day! Luckily I found a way of stopping this feature and instead I just downloaded a new Facebook app. The Youtube app is good, I can search for things quickly and easily. Also the Google Maps is quite useful. It's nothing like a sat nav or anything like that, but I'm sure it would come in handy for most people.

Wifi - When looking for a phone, I defiantly wanted to buy a phone with wifi. So as this phone had wifi it did persuade me to buy it. You know if wifi is turned on because there is a little symbol at the top of your screen, and when it turns green it means that the wifi is on. I find that with wifi I can browse the internet quickly on this phone from home. Occasionally wifi does turn off, but if that happens then you just go on settings, connectivity, wifi, and then connect. However sometimes it still does not connect so I have to turn my phone on and off for it to connect. Which can be quite a pain! The phone is also capable of going on the internet outside of your home without wifi (but it does cost) and it does have Bluetooth.

Other Useful Bits - The phone also has many other useful things on it such as the calendar, calculator, notes, alarms, timer, stopwatch, torch and a few others. I find the torch to be one of the most useful things about this phone. You simply just click torch 'on' and then the flash button will light up so you can see around in the dark. I was surprised at how well the 'torch' worked, and it has defiantly come in handy to me and has saved me from falling around in the dark. When talking to someone from your phone, it also has a good option called noise shield, which basically blocks out background noises, it does come in handy when I'm in loud public places. The phone also comes with 1 game called Quadrapop, which can be quite fun to play if your bored. The ring tones on the phone are the common ring tones you would expect, I have the well known Sony Ericsson ring tone as mine, but you can also upload your own music onto this phone and set that as your ring tone.

---------- Problems with the phone ----------I haven't really had many problems with the phone, but there is one thing. Occasionally when I am on my phone it will freeze for a few seconds or minutes, which can be very annoying. It doesn't do it all the time, but just occasionally. It might just be my phone that freezes, and it could be because I drop it all the time! Also because the phone is curved, it can sometimes be quite hard to take off the back cover of the phone. You have to kind of pick it off at the side, it takes a while to work out how to get it off, but once you know you easily get the hang of it.

---------- Battery Life ----------I find that the battery life lasts me around a day and a half, however it really depends. If I am using the internet, or on the phone a lot, then it won't last as long. But the good thing is, that when I charge my phone, it usually takes a few hours and then it is full charge again! So it doesn't need charging all night!

---------- Durability ----------I have dropped this phone so many times I can't count! I do have a few scratches on my phone from when I have dropped it. But It has never broken or anything like that, which must be a miracle! I have never had to take it anywhere to get it repaired, but I have only owned it about 6 months.

---------- Overall ----------Overall I do like my phone, it has useful features, it has wifi, it's stylish, it's easy to use and I have dropped it so much and it's been able to survive! The only problems I really have with it is when it sometimes freezes, which can be a right pain. Oh and I wish you had the option to have a password on it when you unlock it. I find that the price is reasonable for what you get with this phone and it's not really complicated like a smart phone, but it is a good, easy to use phone!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Overall.. not bad!

On looks, the phone looks sturdy with a nicely sized screen which is of excellent quality. The buttons are nice and easy to use, but it is easy to press the wrong button when texting quickly. The mirror around the screen on the silver version of the phone is a nice touch however, it get grubby very quickly. The metal material on the back casing adds to the sturdy appearance to the phone. The back casing is really hard to remove if you don't have nails.

The phone's operating system is very easy to use. It has some nice features that are great for people who are interested in travel and hiking. It has google maps installed and has a built in pedometer. It also caters for social networkers who use Myspace, Twitter and Facebook.

The camera is really not bad for the price of the phone and the quality of the speakers is slightly above average for a phone.

The battery life is nothing to shout about but when in need of a charge up, plugging it into a computer via usb will stop the phone from being able to be used, I found this annoying when I have been keeping the phone charged up because I've been waiting for an important call or text.

the phone get very slow if you get so many messages and the casing gets damaged very easily.

Overall, I find this phone average. It isn't good and it isn't bad. For someone who isn't going to use the phone much and/or takes great care of their things. Ideal for walkers or people who enjoy traveling.

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

Overall a great quality no frills phone

I bought this phone for my teenage son but ended up using it as I liked it so much!It has the lovely sleek Sony Ericsson design which seems to sit comfortably in your hand. It is no frills but reliable and user friendly. It has the basics- internet, camera and media player. Its not for those who need the latest gadgets with loads of features. This really is a basic phone, but for what it is it is really excellent quality.It was also the first phone I came across which is trying to be 'greener' which I found very refreshing. So if you are enviromentally minded, this could be the kind of thing you're looking for.My son, as a self-conscious teenager was also happy to be seen with this phone (there were some he wouldn't've been seen dead with!!). So it was the perfect balance of being reasonably priced with all the essentials, stylish and with a greenheart too!

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

Doesn't do much, focuses on the basics, what it does do it does well

In a market full of smart phones with touch screen this phone remains easy to use without all the added optional features. The major benefit of this is the battery life. I charge mine up once every week and i've been using it day in day out for months.

Having used the phone for nearly a year i'm pleased to say its served me well! The layout is as simple and effective as all Sony Ericsson's. The camera is good quality, so's the storage space with the option of adding a memory card to store even more files. Transfering files to the computer is simple too, the transfer cable is included in the super-light packaging in which the phone arrives. Uneccessary gubbins are left out contributing to the overall eco-friendliness of the phone.The simple little touches such as the "don't forget to unplug the charger after use" message adds to the overall character.

For the person who wants a mobile phone without the un-needed added extras the Sony Ericsson Elm is certainly the way to go. Its simple, basic and very well executed.

I don't have a bad word to say about it!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

just like any other sony erricson phone really

I got this phone as a present for christmas last year and i wasn't that eager to open it and try it out. I have had many sony erricson phones before and none of them lasted very long or were very practical with rubbish keyboards. i tried typing out a small reminder note and it took twice as long as it should, it made mistakes all over the place, and its auto correction dictionary has some of the most bizarre word replacements for simple five letter words.

I didn't like the mp3 player built in to it either, it took ages to load a song, and then when it did load it sounded like the music was being played underwater, i was not very happy with the sound quality. on the other hand it has a good calling quality, it does sound good when making a phone call and you do get some pretty cool fetters like plane mode which lets you use it on the plane, but overall i don't think its something to shout about.

i charged it the other night and it lasted a full 3 hours less than the manual states it does, and it keeps getting worse, i don't know why but im having to charge it longer and longer for less battery charge. i think the only thing i can give five stars for is the camera, i suppose thats the only thing that works well on this phone.

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

A great phone with lots of features

I have a silver Sony Ericsson Elm (or J10i2), which I bought due to wanting a good phone with 3G as my last phone was only 2G. I looked through a number of phones, but kept finding touchscreens and QWERTY keyboards, neither of which I wanted.

As I always having cold hands touchscreens generally don't work for me and even if I could use the menu and so on easily enough I wouldn't want to text that way. As for QWERTY keyboards, I have long nails so I'd always be catching more than one button as they are so small. So this led me on a search to find just a normal phone, which was more difficult than I thought.

A lot of basic phones were fine for the keypad, but didn't have other features I needed such as 3G. Others were simply too expensive. Eventually someone suggested the Elm so I looked at it and immediately liked it. It had 3G and all the other features I wanted, plus more!

The only thing I didn't like was the price. For a sim-free phone it was £100 (prices vary depending on the colour and network) on Amazon. After checking other sites I couldn't find it any cheaper. Luckily I had an Amazon gift card which took the price down. After all, the only reason I was buying the phone was because of one little feature as my other phone is still working so I didn't want to spend a fortune on a new one.

Still, I decided it was worth the money and bought it. I'm glad I did. This eco friendly phone does everything I could possibly want and it does it well.

According to the Sony Ericsson site and other specifications this phone only comes in metal black and pearly rose. However, I have it in silver so it obviously comes in three colours.

Design:The Elm is a thin phone, designed to fit perfectly in your hand (which it does). It has a decent size screen, camera on the back and the buttons on the keypad are set out well. They're easy to use and just the right size.

The only design flaw has to be the back cover. It requires you pushing the back up near the top corner and pulling it off. It feels like you are breaking it and it can be really awkward. The box shows a diagram of how to get it off and makes it look so simple. A little push up and it's off. The reality is very different. Often you have to try and keep the top up and slide your finger down the gap to try and pull it off near the bottom which is easier said than done. It has a habit of clicking partly back in to place. It isn't always the easiest to get back on either.

Once it is off though it's easy to remove the battery and sim card. However, this also leads to another slight problem - the memory card. You have to remove the battery to put the memory card in or take it out, which also means you have to take the back off every time. It's not often I have to remove the memory card, but if you do it is annoying.

Besides the back cover the Elm is very well designed and looks great.

Menu and features:The menu is the same (or very similar) as other Sony Ericsson mobiles. It has 12 clear logos and tells you what each one is at the top. The menu is very easy to navigate. It only took me a couple of minutes to get used to using the phone and set it up how I wanted (ringtone, volume, display, etc). You can access everything from this menu, from the camera to the Internet.

The phone comes with two games; HamsterHustle and Quadrapop. I haven't played HamsterHustle so can't really comment on it. I have played Quadrapop before, but it was on an old Sony Ericsson phone. The game has been updated since I last played it - the images are much clearer. It is simple and kind of addictive. Animals go down the screen in pairs and you have to group them together in groups of 4 or more of the same kind. Rather like Tetris but with animals and groups not lines.

There are only a few different themes to choose from for the display, although there is an application which allows you to unlock others and you can download different ones.

There aren't many ringtones to choose from either, but you can always put MP3 songs on to the phone and use them or download different ones.

All the other main features are as you'd expect from a phone - able to change the volume, brightness, select a profile, alarms, calculator and so on. There's even a torch. However, there are apps/widgets on the phone which are useful and you have the option to download others.

Apps/widgets:As mentioned above there are apps/widgets and you can download others. Only downside is that some cost and others will use the Internet.

There are apps such as Google Maps, Youtube, Wisepilot. Accuweather and TrackID. If you click on PlayNow you can find others to download (PlayNow does connect to the Internet though so you may be charged).

There's a game type app which is called EcoMate where you answer questions about the environment. This app is a way of unlocking different themes and ringtones for the phone.

There are other features like Walk Mate Eco. This is a step counter. It's not the best, but it works pretty well and it even tells you how much Co2 you have saved. You can also get to Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and the calendar through the same widget menu.

Internet:The Internet had a few different networks already set up, but didn't include mine so I spent a few minutes setting that up first. It wasn't too difficult, but may be harder for someone who knows very little about mobiles.

After this I could use the Internet. It loads pages fairly quickly and displays most sites well. Most sites like Facebook or Youtube can be accessed through applications instead anyway so these are set up to display properly on the mobile. You can search for sites, add addresses to your favourites and the menu is easy to access and use.

Camera:The camera is 5MP and is a pretty decent camera. Annoyingly at that it doesn't zoom so you have to change it. There are 4 options. You can make it 3MP and 1MP but they won't zoom either and they seem a rather pointless option. I guess it may affect the picture size, but chances are you either want the best quality or you want to zoom. So you have to have it on the lowest option, VGA, to zoom. Despite being a lower quality the photos still look decent.

You can add certain effects and have a number of different options which is useful, although not something I really bother with. Just to name a few options, you can add frame, use face detection, turn flash on or off, or set a timer.

You can also record videos which are good quality. As with the images you have effects to choose from and a number of different options like the self timer , light and microphone.

Battery Life:The battery life seems really good, but the more you use it the quicker it dies like with most phones. You can have the Walk Mate Eco on the screen at all times without it draining the battery too much, but the further you walk the more the battery will go down.

Calls/texting:Texting is the same as with most mobiles. It's easy to text and you have the usual options (e.g. symbols, spell word, copy and paste). What I like about this phone is the keypad as it has proper buttons and it's obvious which you are pressing, even though each row of buttons is joined up. With some phones the buttons are flat and the keypad is all joined together and it feels like you are pressing all the keys at once instead of just one. The Elm feels like you are pressing each button individually.

Calling people is easy to do. You can access contacts without going into the main menu and then you just press the button with a green phone on to call the person who is selected. Calls are usually fine and the sound is clear. For some reason it sometimes says there is no signal, but there usually is and the phone still works fine. I have no idea why it does that, but it's not really an important issue.

Manual:The manual, due it being an eco friendly phone, is on the phone rather than paper. In theory this is a great idea as manuals are often lost and waste a lot of paper. On the downside if you want to find something you have to keep clicking links rather than just being able to flick through a manual and once you've found what you want you have to remember what it says then do it as you can't look at it at the same time as doing it.

The information included in the manual is helpful though.

Accessories:The phone comes with a charger and earphones. You can also get a USB transfer cable. I have found that other Sony Ericsson chargers and cables work fine with this phone as it is the same connection so if you already have Sony Ericsson accessories you can probably save some money. The accessories all work well and seem to be good quality.

The phone has a decent size internal memory, but you can also buy a memory card for it. This is useful for media files (photos, music and videos) so it's worth getting one. If you have the data transfer cable you should be able to add and remove files without taking the memory card out again.

Overall:It's not the cheapest phone, but this isn't a basic phone so it's worth paying extra for. Plus it's eco friendly which is good. It has many features and is easy to use. Overall I'm really glad I bought this phone and would recommend it.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A good relatively cheap phone that doesn't cut out some good features.

The Sony Ericsson Elm is for people who care a bit about the environment, and still has some nice features. At around £100 or less, the Elm is a good buy for people who just want a fairly simple phone.

Only a few phones can claim to be eco-friendly. It uses recycled plastics, eco-friendly paint and comes with a low-power-consumption charger. It also comes in a very small box, while there is no paper manual, but an electronic manual on the phone.

Annoying, the screen will (rarely) turn itself off. Also, you'll get tedious messages after unplugging the charger, telling you to switch off the plug. It's all for a good course though!

--Apps--'Walk Mate' counts your steps through the day, converting this into the volume of carbon dioxide that you have saved from the atmosphere - This isn't too useful, but it makes you feel good! Perhaps some more useful information could be given too!

The Elm means well, but not many people buy mobile phones to be told how to help the environment?

--Looks--With its curved sleek design, the Elm is a bit different to most candybar phones. However, it is still attractive. Its slim, black and silver body fit nicely in the hand. The screen (2.2-inch, 240x320-pixel) doesn't really stand up to screens on the market now, but it's still clear and gives a sharp picture.

There's a great 5-megapixel camera with a flash, GPS, an Internet browser, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Java-based games, MP3 and AAC music playback, and an FM radio. The flash light on the camera can also be used as a torch and is very handy!

The battery life is pretty good at up to 430 hours (apparently) and talk time of 600 minutes.Texting is fine on this phone too - easy to use, and you can put predictive text on or off.

This phone is a nice, relatively cheap phone that still has some great features and is easy to use. If you don't want to be too flash and fancy, but still want SOMES features, this is a pretty good phone.

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

Great Christmas gift!

I took this phone on contract at £10 with TalkMobile for a 24 month period. The phone itself retails for around £100 give or a take a bit more or less depending on the carrier.The phone struck me straight away for its unique curved design and simple yet elegant candybar look. Sony Ericsson bucked the trend of high-spec touch screen and its good because it makes this phone stand out. Amazingly it is also packed with a 5megapixel camera with LED flash.

Its flaunted as being Green in that it uses recycled material. One would think that would mean the quality is poor, however this far from true; the phone reeks of quality.

Whilst it may not boast the amazing features that the latest touch-phone may have, it does have a few tricks up its sleeve. It features WiFi and HSPA! I have used the WiFi whilst roaming around the house to check my email or general web browsing quite a lot.

The Elm features applications for Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Myspace and you basically have most of the social features covered. The main menu allows you to add any of these widgets for easy access. Furthermore Opera can be also installed as an alternative for browsing.

Now the phone does have its lacking and this is in the department of media playback. There is the usual itemising of tracks but the player itself isn't as good as say the W-series of phones.

Also the network reception seems to be a bit feeble in that it doesn't always acheive full reception and it is the case with other carriers (having thought the problem lay with TalkMobile).

Call quality is good though and there is a feature to block out background noise which also works very well.

Battery life is very good and charge times can vary depending on the level of use and features used. For example having WiFi on for extended periods will drastically reduce battery life. Normally I charge this phone every 3-4 days and this is with normal WiFi usage. Likewise using the camera or media player can reduce battery life. On the whole the battery lfie is more than adequate and better than some touch screens. As with most other SE phones this also features 2 modes - normal and offline where the offline mode can increase battery life by quite a bit.

Which brings me to the camera and flashlight. The camera is very capable of taking beautiful if not breathtaking pictures and video. At 5megapixels it performs very well in good lighting conditions and pictures come out sharp and clear. There is a flashlight which also performs exceptionally (again I use it as a torch light!) in conjuction with the camera. Video-taking isn't its strongest point but I cannot see why it need be - this isn't a camera phone and there are other products to do this sort of thing, however videos are of decent quality.

To be honest, I absolutely love and adore this phone. It has a great feature list, looks stunning and works when I want it to work for what I want.

I cannot think of any other phone at the £100 mark that offers HSPA, WiFi, 5megapixel camera with LED flash and socialising and media applications in one elegant form. The Elm for me is an absolute winner and a must have for those who aren't swayed by the bloated charms of touch-phones.